Thoughts on wearing green: in the Anglican Church, the alter cloth is green most of the year to symbolize life and growth. In 2008, Monsignor Gianfranco Girotti said destroying the environment is a modern social sin. People are on the right path when they act to protect the environment. Green is also associated with Islam, probably because it symbolizes life.
A representative of the South Island Motorized Vehicle Recreation Advisory Council continues to use labels such as “green jihadists” to try and discredit people who don’t share his values or interests. Unfortunately, members of the Association of BC Landowners have used the same tactic of labeling people and trying to dismiss their legitimate interests and concerns. A Dogwood Initiative organizer tried the name calling tactic at a public meeting and so obscured his argument. The simple-minded use of labels and name calling that prevents analysis of information is destructive.
Using “green jihadist” to promote an image of thoughtless and destructive behavior is also an attempt to discredit Islam. While not a follower of Islam, Mahatma Gandhi spoke of a personal jihad to bring his life into spiritual order. “Jihad” is a struggle to promote spiritual values. I suspect most followers of Islam condemn those who have taken the idea of “jihad” to justify attacks on innocent people. Murdering the innocent is not consistent with the spiritual guidance offered by Islam or Christianity.
Mind you, a Christian Duke “crusading” against Albigensians ordered his men to kill all the people in one French village. His excuse was that God would sort the heretics out from the innocent: the villagers were better dead than red. Historians suggest the Duke just wanted their real estate.
Heather Phillips
Sooke